Last week, I mentioned the appreciation I have for Nick training for his half marathon last year, and I have been thinking about that all week because it was the first time that I ever saw him dedicate himself to a structured exercise program of any kind. Additionally, I give him much credit for his half marathon, as, at this time, I do not see myself ever running a formal half marathon. I have run the distance and further before, but I have completed my runs on "good days" instead of a specific date on the calendar.

I will forever admire people who can train for a high impact event by calendar days. I have come to the conclusion that I have to work with my body instead of against it, and that has made the difference this year compared to last year. Instead of being bitter, I think I will choose to celebrate that we each have our own strengths and weaknesses, and move on. Good job on completing your first half, Nick! You are awesome!



I think it is important with anything to track your progress. Improvements happen so gradually that it is easy to forget the journey you have been on. I have been using Nike Plus for all of my running this year, and the program has only eaten a couple of them—the technology is still flawed, but I am mostly happy with the system. I also sync to Daily Mile, which does allow for manual entry, but I do not want a manual override option in Nike Plus because it would be so easy for people to cheat on challenges. Oh well! Who knows how to fix it!

Above is my running graph from January and my graph from last month. Everything about my running has improved. My longest distance in January was seven miles, and my longest in September was 15. My pace was 9:22 (which I was very impressed with at the time), and my pace is now around eight minutes a mile. My cumulative running pace through Nike Plus has finally dropped below 9:00 per mile.

I had a long stretch (2008 and 2009) where I was running over 10:00 minutes per mile, and every step felt like a jackhammer in my spine. I was running on a schedule instead of when I was feeling good. My running was also very staggered, and my frustration affected my ability to condition myself to the sport. In the last couple of months, I have had several runs below 8:00 per mile, and I am very happy with that. I know it's not the fastest, and I can't do it on demand, but it's self improvement.

I can definitely tell, compared to other months, that Nick and I started P90X on September 13, because that's when the longer runs started becoming only a once-a-week thing. It was my original intention to get in three miles a day during P90X training, but I realized quickly that A.) three miles does not give me a runner's high and B.) I like rest days between running. The first month of the program was extremely low carb, and it looks like I documented most of my runs during that period with sad faces by them, hah!

The only other time I have gone a bit extreme with removing a macro nutrient from my body was when I started losing weight, and I cut out most of my fat (not knowing any better). After my skin started flaking and my hair started falling out, I put two and two together and realized that fat in moderation plays a very important role in maintaining a healthy body! I lost the majority of my weight eating 65% to 70% quality carbohydrates, so I have never been interested in the low-carb craze!

Nick and I agreed to keep an open mind with the P90X program though, so we did the required four weeks of low- to no-carbohydrates. I will say that doing so has helped me appreciate carbs as an energy source rather than a pick-me-up after a stressful day. The first 10 mile run I attempted on low carbs nearly made me cry because I felt so inadequate! I was in the habit of running a 13+ distance every week, and suddenly I was hitting a wall at seven! This week is the first week where we've added high fiber, low glycemic index carbohydrates. I have had such a spurt of energy off them that I'm almost hyper! I've had trouble falling asleep at night because I have all this extra pent up energy!

Between the two graphs, I also think it is interesting that I ran for an hour less in September compared to January, but nearly completed an additional six miles. I am now tracking my heart rate while running, and I highly doubt that my average heart rate in January would have been in the 150s! I keenly remember feeling like I was going to die at the end of five miles at the beginning of this year! Besides, I like looking at the heart rate vs pace graphs that Nike spits out for me! As you can see, I've only been tracking heart rate since June.



I've said this several times this year, but making myself this goal to run 1,000 miles was one of the best things I have ever done for myself. I have 170 miles left to get done in the next two and a half months, and I already feel such a huge sense of accomplishment and empowerment. All this from something so simple. I feel great, and I hope to continue seeing improvements.